


Now it's the 20th Century. Everyone is Still Gay

by IGuessIWriteStuffNow



Series: Gay Newspaper Children Get To Be Happy [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Blink/Mush is there is you squint, Canon Era, F/F, M/M, Sarah and Jack are Bisexuals- your daily reminder, Very fluffy, a sequel cause someone asked, and no pining??? this is so new for me, but I can hope, literally no conflict, takes place like 5 years later, this is really happy and i doubt these gay kids would have a life this easy in this time period
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 06:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10430871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IGuessIWriteStuffNow/pseuds/IGuessIWriteStuffNow
Summary: At sixteen, David Jacobs imagined happiness to be a steady job, a wife, and two children. At twenty-three, he wrote sporadic articles for whatever paper needed him, lived in a small apartment with his artistic male lover, and the only child in his life was his brother Les. Despite the great deviation in his plans, he couldn’t imagine being happier.******In which David, Jack, Sarah, and Katherine live in neighboring apartments, are gay, and are happy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So PlsnFankYou requested a sequel for this so i thought why not?? I wrote this in like half an hour so apologies if its not great.  
> Also this takes place about 5 years after the strike, if you didn't read the tags.  
> I usually don't write fluff and like I don't really know where I'm going with this so??? We'll see???

At sixteen, David Jacobs imagined happiness to be a steady job, a wife, and two children. At twenty-three, he wrote sporadic articles for whatever paper needed him, lived in a shabby apartment with his male lover, and the only child in his life was his brother Les, who, at fifteen years of age, wasn’t really a child anymore. And despite the great deviation from his plans, he couldn’t imagine being happier.

There were a lot of times in between that, of course. Seventeen was the year of senseless pining over his best friend- male best friend- who he was sure would never return his feelings. Eighteen brought the realization that said friend- Jack Kelly- did. It was the same year he got to know the beautiful and inspiring Katherine Plumber better, and the year he learned that she was seeing his sister. Nineteen years old was when his relationship was revealed to the newsies- who had all stayed friends despite the fact that they were too old to be selling papes- with fear of being outcasted, only to find that many of the newsies had a preference for those of the same gender as well. (In retrospect, he felt like quite a lousy reporter for not noticing the subtext in every word Spot and Race exchanged). At twenty years of age, David moved out of his childhood home, as did his sister, Sarah, and into neighboring apartments, each sharing with their respective lover. As far as their parents and society were concerned, the apartments were resided in by David and Katherine and Jack and Sarah, respectively, and the actual living conditions were the business of the young adults themselves.

Legally sharing a home with Katherine Plumber did lead to David getting to know her much better. There were times when they were both covering the same story, for different papers, which always spawned a sense of friendly competition between the two. And David had to admit- Kath was an amazing writer. Better than himself, in many respects, and he always cringed remembering how he had doubted her ability when they first met. Though David, Jack, Sarah, and Katherine herself knew of the female reporter's extraordinary skills in the writing field, she was still rarely taken seriously by major male publishers. On several occasions Jack had suggested holding strikes against any company that wouldn't hire her, but it was always decided the group had had enough striking for the time being.

As for Sarah, she had taken the role of a leader of a small women's rights activism organization in the middle of the city, which was growing in fame and membership size by the month. Kath was incredibly proud of her beautiful lover, and often asked to speak at the meetings, so much so that she was practically one of the leaders herself. She refused the title, however, leaving it for Sarah to have. David attended the meetings frequently as well, dragging Jack along with him (though _dragging_ may not be the right word; Jack was always ready to rally for a cause, and one lead by two of his closest friends? You couldn't keep him away). David and Sarah were still extremely close, talking several times a week if not daily, and often going back home to spend time with their parents- who did not know about their respective relationships- and Les - who they were fairly sure did, though he never directly said anything about it.

And, as they had been for nearly five years now, the newsies were still ever-present in David's life. One or two would occasionally stop by one of the apartments, (most said they preferred Sarah and Kath's place- maybe it was the decor) sitting down on the nearest available surface and starting a conversation with whoever was currently in the room. David supposed it was a result spending years of one's life in a room close-packed with dozens of other boys, the complete lack of regards for privacy that the former newsboys held. They barged in anywhere, unapologetically, no matter what they walked into. (One time, Race had walked on Jack and David kissing, and, without blinking an eye, asked where the best place to smoke was. Davey, who was red with embarrassment, merely pointed to fire escape and then buried his head in Jack's shoulder, while his unsympathetic lover just laughed at the situation. David started locking doors after that.)

Sometimes someone would tell someone that they wanted to visit Jack or Kath or Sarah or Davey, and then someone else would agree, and before David had any say in the amount of people invading his home, there was an entire herd of former newsboys covering every surface of the apartment. Race and Spot usually had complete claim of the couch, an ownership that no one ever challenged or disputed, and, though it was never said directly, it was generally agreed on to not attempt to invade their territory. Race often regaled the group with stories of his gambling life, results of a habit he never did manage to kick. In fairness, he had been able to amass a fair amount of money from the sport, enough for him and Spot to have a place of their own. There was less discussion of work from Spot, but David had begun to get the feeling he was in charge of a dangerous gang in Brooklyn. He liked to think of Spot as a friend, but he was still a bit too scared to ask. 

Crutchie was over at the apartments almost as much as the actual residents were, and never failed to miss one of the gatherings. He would take the stool near the entrance to the kitchen, where he could both be involved in conversation and available to help Sarah with the cooking in the room over- he had proved to be quite good at preparing food. It was one of the many odd jobs he took on when needed; he had been able to get a good amount more work done since he had given up the crutch. He still walked with an uncomfortable limp, but, by then, the wooden crutch served as more of an impediment than an aid. 

Along with those three, the most regular attendees, the others would appear in assorted groups. David was pretty sure he never went more than two months without seeing any of the boys he considered friends, and he was glad. The apartments had become sort of a safe haven, an intimate, comfortable atmosphere shared by people who were all immeasurably close. There was little caution in expressing affection: Jack would press innocent kisses to the side of Davey’s neck while others were speaking, Kath would stand behind Sarah as she cut vegetables, resting her hands on the other’s waist and lightly kissing behind her ear, Mush and Blink would sit so close they were practically in each other’s laps- which was likely the intention-, and Spot and Race would spontaneously begin kissing in the midst of a conversation, which was rarely appreciated, especially annoying to David, the one who was trying to speak.

Of course, there was always that underlying worry that accompanied seeing his friends act so romantically with someone of the same sex. David couldn’t help but see images flash before his eyes of the police bursting into the room and dragging him their friends away to jail, where they would have no political allies to bail them out. The anxiety swirled through his chest, and he clenched hands into fists, nails threatening to dig into his palms. Such signs of worry were easily noticed by Jack, as he was very attuned to his Davey- after spending so many years in love with the man, how could he not? He always noticed when Dave was thinking a bit too much, and usually managed to help him calm down before things could get too bad. He reached his hand down to uncurl the fist, and lace their fingers together. “You okay, Dave?” He whispered, gently rubbing the other’s stomach with his free hand. Davey nodded, and Jack pressed a kiss to his jawbone. “Good. I love you.” David blushed when he heard the words- even after five years of being reminded daily that he was loved, it still delighted him. “Love you, too.” He whispered back, before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.

So, no. Maybe David didn’t have his idealized life he had imagined for himself, back so long ago. Maybe what he had with Jack wasn’t legal, and maybe it would get him in trouble one day. But, as Kath had often told him, the brand new century was for _them_. Change wouldn’t come easy- he knew it never did- but just because of the oppressions they faced now existed, didn’t mean that life wasn’t theirs to enjoy. David looked around the room, at the people gathered out of friendship and out of love, thinking that, even though he didn’t have that steady job and wife and kids, he had a different type of family. And he couldn’t be happier.


End file.
